Before I get into my post I want to say " Happy Birthday MOM!." Love you!!

Back to the post...

Todd and I are still college students, and haven't quite entered into the world of fine dining and elegant parties. When I found out that Todd bought us tickets for his schools black tie event I was so excited to get dolled up, and paint the town red. The thought of going shopping for a new dress with elegant accessories got me all giddy for our upcoming event. Todd and I have never been to a black tie event together, and immediately we started thinking about what to wear that night. We can all admit that there are times when we feel completely lost on what the dress code actually means!

Here's a quick His & Her guide to help you dress your best for a black tie formal.

Dressing for Her

Gowns: Black tie calls for a formal dress code so women are encouraged to wear floor length gowns. Another option women can do is wear a cocktail dress. However, if a cocktail dress is worn you want to keep the color dark and rich so that it won't look casual. Whatever dress option you choose keep the style elegant, and not overly sexy or revealing. If you don't want to buy a dress for the occasion you can always rent a designer one from Rent the Runway for a reduced cost.

Do I need to wear black? The answer is No. While black is classic other colors can be worn as well. Try to avoid overly bright colors so that you don't look like you are going to prom.

Accessories: You want to keep your accessories minimal. Since you will be wearing an elegant gown let that be the showcase of the outfit. Go for earrings + a bracelet, or a necklace and cocktail ring. For a bag bring a small clutch that can carry a phone, keys, lipstick, and credit cards in. You want to keep your bag small and minimal so that it won't clash with your amazing gown. Wear shoes that give you a little more height, but are still comfortable enough to spend hours wearing.

Makeup: Since a black tie event occurs in the evening go for a classic smokey eye with a luscious lip. Try wearing a long wear lipstick such as Lipsense so that you don't have to worry about reapplying lipstick that evening. When you are done applying your makeup try using a setting spray such as Urban Decay All Nighter Long Lasting Makeup Spray to ensure your makeup will last you dancing the night away.

Hair: You can either wear you hair up or down, but keep it classic. If you have a strapless dress pull your hair back to show off the collar bones for an elegant look.

Dressing For Him

Tux: For a black tie formal it is customary that all the men wear tuxes. The tuxedo is the gold standard of black tie formal allowing the man to tap into his inner James Bond. When it comes to finding a tux you can either go to the store to purchase one or rent one for a reduced cost. I have worked with this amazing company Celebrity Tux and Tails on multiple projects, and they are hands down my favorite tux rental company in the Arizona valley. The hand measure you to fit you to one of their suits, and will even do in store alterations to ensure you look the best for your occasion. They even provide all pieces of the suit including jacket, suspenders, pants, shirt, bow tie, vest, cummerbund, pocket square, and shoes.

Jacket: The jacket is the equivalent of the woman's gown - it is the centerpiece of the outfit. The jacket will be typically made of wool, and have lapels covered in black silk. When contemplating between single or double breasted buttons, the single button is more common, but both are acceptable. For the jacket to create a slim silhouette, an unvented jacket is preferred. However, you can always to the double vents in the back that will be more comfortable for sitting.

Trousers: When looking at trousers they should match the jacket. The waist for the pants should be high waisted so that the jacket can fully cover it.

Vest, Cummerbund, or Suspenders? All these options are part of a suit, but you only need to wear one form of waist coverings. I liked Todd not wearing the vest or cummerbund to still keep his look modern. I loved the suspenders just so I could tease him, and snap them ;)

Shirt: The shirt that is worn under the jacket should always be white. To show off cufflinks the shirt must has french cuffs. The french cuff is the standard for a formal shirt. As far as the collar is concerned you have the option between two styles: turndown collar, and wing collar.

Bow Tie: You can purchase a bow tie that is already tied, or you can get one that you can tie on your own.

Shoes: The traditional shoe worn with a tuxedo will be a made of patent leather or a glossy calfskin.

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Well, summer here in Arizona. The temps are sky rocketing, and the sweaters are all packed up to be moved to Dallas. While I was packing up all my winter clothes in moving boxes, I brushed the dust off last years shorts, and placed them in the closet for immediate use. These shorts were given to me last year from Shein, and they still are one of my favorite pairs! The tribal print, and fun colors makes these shorts fun for any occasion. I decided to play up the patterns in this outfit by mixing the fun tribal print with a more subdued printed blouse.

Ps make sure you stay tuned for the next couple of days for a fun giveaway ;)

Featured Bloggers of the Week

When first glancing through all the amazing posts you guys linked, Tif from Bright on a Budget immediately caught my attention. I don't know if it was the adorable blouse or this amazing color combination, but this girl was my top pick for this weeks blog feature.

Alicia from Between the Pearls made this weeks blog feature because that skirt has my all heart eyes. Gurrrrllll I need! That lavender skirt is calling my name for easter!

Thank you for joining me at the Fashion Elite with J Petite Linkup! I love sharing everything that is style whether it be the latest trends or something that is staple in the wardrobe. I absolutely love linkups as a way to connect and discover other amazing bloggers from all around the world. Each week bloggers may submit their posts on Tuesdays at 1 am Arizona Mountain time to show their take on our beauty/fashion theme of the week. Each week I will pick 2 of my favorite bloggers who rocked the trend from the previous week to be featured on my blog.

I would love to see you linking up with me by sharing #fashionelitewithjpetite, and tagging @thejpetite on Instagram. I will feature our favorite Instagram accounts who feature my hashtag.

Next weeks theme will be "Activewear."

Would you like to cohost the Fashion Elite Linkup? Email me jessica.marie.edmunds@gmail.com and let’s organize a date

Happy Monday everyone! You guys know that I LOVE talking hair, and with that said, I have a treat for you today. For today's post we are going to be talking about how to achieve that ideal "blow out" that is super easy to do, and is not damaging to your hair. Say what? Not damaging?!!!

Keep reading and I'll tell you how... ;)

T3 Micro was so kind to send me these Volumizing hot rollers to review for all of you lovely followers. If you missed my other posts about reviewing the T3 wand and flat iron check them out here + here.

Let me just say that whatever I put on my blog is something that I love, and want to share with you guys. Whenever I do a review it's completely honest, and I want to always be authentic with my followers. Sorry for the ramble, but I just hate how bloggers will promote a product just to get paid.

Ramble over let us dive in.

When I received my rollers in the mail I was so excited, and curious to see what the rave was all about. The first thing that comes to mind when I think "rollers" is tight "little orphan Annie" curls. After doing some research on these curlers I found out that "dorky curls" are a thing of the past, and that this product creates smooth, bouncy, volumizing curls. Fact or fiction? Let us see..

When I opened up my box this is what was inside:

4 - 1.75 inch rollers

4 - 1.5 inch rollers

8 - crease free clips

Leather storage bag

Heating dock for the rollers

So what makes these curlers different than others? I'm glad you asked!

T3 uses their heatcore technology that is embedded in each of the rollers. This technology evenly transfers heat to the hair creating that ideal styling temperature. The velvet outer layer on the curlers allows for you to roll your hair around the curler without having to worry about the hair slipping out. Another bonus for the velvet layer is that it creates shiny smooth hair! The benefits of using these rollers over a curling iron is that a) you can create lots of volume through the body and crown, and b) your hair won't get toasted by the curlers.

So the pictures you see here are when I first used the rollers, and I love how my hair turned out. I started off with clean straight hair, and brushed through to make sure there wasn't any tangles. I then turned on my heating dock, and allowed for the curlers to heat for about 15 minutes. I then split my hair into three sections (starting at the top), and wrapped my hair around the curlers. After all the curlers were placed I did my makeup for about 35 minutes, and then took out the curlers. Another bonus about these curlers is that it took me 10 minutes to put them in vs 25 minutes to curl my hair with a wand. In the words on Donald Trump this was a "HUUUUUUUUUUUGE" time saver! I started at the bottom layer of my hair, removing each curler one by one. As I removed each curler I unrolled my hair by twisting it in the direction of the curl as I took it out. After all the rollers were removed I gave a quick tease at the back of my hair (I have a stubborn calic).

I love how my hair turned out, and the effortless curls it created. The only complaint I have about this product is that for my hair length, and thickness I wish I had two more curlers.

Hope you liked the review :)

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This week has seemed to go so slow, and so fast at the same time. In case you don't follow me on social media then you might have missed that I decided to become a Senegence distributor last week. Sometimes I think I am crazy for signing up because I am already full time with my blog, and part time with photography and teaching. Ever since I started using Lipsense back in October I fell in love with the product, and everyone on social media kept saying that I should sell it because of my following. For the longest time I kept putting it off because I don't have that personality to push things onto people, and hate making feel obligated to buy from me. Plus, do I really have time to take on another thing to add to my list?

For the past month I've been asking myself questions whether I should just keep buying lipsense or should I become a distributor and sell it? I love the product, and what the amazing thing is that it sells itself. After a long month of asking my distributor friends questions I finally decided to sign up as a distributor, and came up with my company name Pucker and Pout by J Petite. I figured if it doesn't work out then I lost $55 to sign up as a distributor, and if it does make money then it's another source of income that I can add to my little family.

Ever since the day I got started I have had a HUGE amount of inquiries about buying the product, and am so excited for my first round of shipments to finally arrive. Please pardon the late blog post, but I am still trying to find a balance between all my businesses. This weekend I am going to be focusing on developing some time management between all my businesses. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear it!

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